Search consultants trying to win search mandates by selling "benefits" are unlikely to gain much business.

Two fundamental human motivations are pain (avoiding loss), and pleasure (seeking reward.) The two often apply together, though is widely acknowledged in psychology that the avoidance of loss is a more powerful motivator than that of gaining reward.  Just think about the energy you would spend to find a 100 Euro note lost during a day in the office, and the days it will remain in the back of your head, than you would put into earning it extra.

Imagine also why people go to work. Most people would happily admit if winning the lottery, they would stop working; and even those that would not, would probably reduce their time at work.  The majority of people go to work not to gain reward, because then winning the lottery would not make any difference. They go to work because of risk avoidance.  If we don’t work we cannot pay mortgage, credit card bills or provide for the family. If most people go to work to avoid loss, then it is clear by definition that companies are full with people that are risk averse.

Selling benefits, or the gain of reward, to people who are risk averse is therefore illogical. Remember the slogan "nobody gets fired buying IBM". IT Managers will not buy a new software to become more efficient, but rather to avoid wasting money, lose market share to competitors or miss opportunities. People rarely buy to gain reward, they want to avoid loss of any kind: prestige, money, time, influence, mind and market share. A purchase is done to solve a problem.

The classic behavior of people trying to avoid loss is when they wait until the last minute, sometimes after weeks or months to place the order; a process that usually happens with customers with whom one had a positive interaction, who gave clear indications to go ahead with the order. It is clear businesses do not spend money until they really must. Who would place an order, but wanted to have it delivered in 6 months ?

Many HR directors will work with Korn Ferry , Heidrick or Egon Zehnder for the same reasons, because their brand equals high security, not excellence. This is especially true for critical positions in times of economic distress. Many firms deliver equal or better work, however, these "global brands” - even if they can’t deliver - will never be a risky choice for the buyer (especially HR). A lesser known,  or new firm with less international or segment exposure, even when demonstrated to offer better results, has few chance of winning a sale on benefits to the conservative, risk averse buyer

The focus in selling searches should therefore be shifted from realizing a transaction to building relationships, which in turn helps building reputation, building a foundation for referrals and recommendations. In such model the customer interests always come first.

With the transactional definition of sales there is no recognition of the sales person adding value towards the customer, as the value is always created on the seller’s side: “a sale was made”. and a commission gained. A strong focus on transactional sales results either in a win/lose situation, miss or overselling. Sales defined only as the customer buying the solution, with the customer situation being irrelevant, is shooting oneself in the foot.

Search consultants selling their services must fundamentally be involved in helping the customer to buy the right solution, and only when it is in the clients interest to do so. Selling must always solve a problem.

Again: every single purchase solves a problem; therefore the sales of searches is always about solving problems. In executive search, benefit selling on a transactional model does not focus on the process leading to uncovering and defining the problem, which is exactly what is required to gain the trust and respect of a client. Only relationship sales, with its focus on the customer and the process yields a beneficial outcome to the customer, candidate and consultant.

Why cling the myth to sell benefits, all about gaining reward, when people usually do things to avoid loss ? Using benefits forces sales people to use a language their customers do not use - and usually do not want to hear. They want to hear about themselves and their problem, and how it will be solved. Only then a situation is created conducive to sales.